Current Opinions on Epidemiology, Treatment and Outcome After Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Traumatic Brain InjuryTraumatic Brain Injury (TBI) continues to be the major cause of disability and death throughout the world despite improvements of research and medical treatment [1]. Consequently, an overview on the current incidence of TBI as well as current treatment options and outcome seems considerably relevant.With 332 Traumatic Brain Injuries per 100,000 inhabitants in Germany every year [2], TBI is still the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide [3] resulting in prolonged rehabilitation and long-term care [4]. In multiple traumatized patients, head injuries are evaluated as the most frequent injury, followed by lower and upper extremity trauma [5]. Examining current data, two major gender-and age-related incidences of TBI can be found: one occurs in the late teens to twenties [6] commonly due to motor vehicle accidents [4] with males being three times as often affected compared to females [7]. The second major incidence occurs in the geriatric population caused by falls due to geriatric co-morbidities [6]. While mortality decreased during the last decades based on medical improvements, the World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that TBI will be the third greatest cause of disease and injury by 2020 [8].Typical symptoms of TBI represent headache, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, paresis, aphasia, seizures and impaired coordination on the physical side [9]. Cognitive impairments include attention, memory and concentration disorders or decreased processing speed whereas behavioural symptoms present as depression, anxiety, agitation or aggression [9]. While these symptoms are present in different injury severities to some extent, most are described to resolve quickly especially after mild TBI [9]. Nevertheless, symptoms can still persist for months or even years regardless of the injury severity of TBI [10,11]. AbstractObjective: The objective of this article is to provide an overview on current incidences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with special focus on current surgical and non-surgical treatment options as well as outcome.Method: A Medline database search was performed using various combinations of the search terms "traumatic brain injury", "TBI", "treatment", "outcome" "pediatric", "intracranial hypertension", "epidemiology" and "incidence". Results:We found an incidence of TBI of 332/100,000 inhabitants in Germany per year and 219-345/100,000 TBI occurring in children. TBI is still the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. The overall mortality after TBI is described with 1%.Typical symptoms of TBI represent headache, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, paresis, aphasia, seizures and impaired coordination on the physical side. Cognitive impairments include attention, memory and concentration disorders or decreased processing speed whereas behavioural symptoms present as depression, anxiety, agitation or aggression. Persistence of these symptoms results in a vicious cycle of impaired skill acquisition and an adaptive deficit with increased ...

Short Communication on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders

“…The topics explored in this special issue include: "Acute Post-Traumatic Stress Reactions in Children Survivors of a Large Road Traffic Accident: Epidemiological Analysis and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Treatment" [1], "Association between trauma history and juvenile sexual offending", "Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Comorbid Disorders and Personality Traits: A Case Series with 12 Month Follow Up" [2] and "Treatment, outcome After Traumatic Brain Injury, Impacts on Long-Term Outcome after Major Trauma-Traumatic Brain and Orthopedic Injuries" [3]. The topic "Psychological Trauma: Experience from Iraq [4] and Hypnosis for PTSD: Evidence Based Placebo-Controlled Studies [5] and Current Opinions on Epidemiology" [6] analyses the status of this disease in Iraq which has been battleground for successive conflict since years and supposedly harbour this disorder with increased prevalence. Furthermore innovative topics related to Trauma such as Cellular Response of the Tendon Sheath in Tendon Injury: Experimental Research in New Zealand Rabbits [7] and Surgical Outcomes of Pediatric Humeral Supracondylar Fractures Treated by Posterior Approach has been discussed [8].…”